Urgent support for my family at Palestine-Gaza

Survival under the dark skies of Gaza.

Safety is often a myth that does not exist in life. Avoiding danger is not safer in the long run than facing danger.

Aseel Al _ Balaawi

‏, a student at the College of Pharmacy, lived through the harshest war with the lack of the most basic necessities of life, homelessness, exodus, loss, loss of security, safety and a home.

‏- At seven o'clock in the morning on Saturday, October 7, my family and I woke up to the sound of bombing. We do not know what happened, nor do we know the cause or source of these sounds. We had slept peacefully and reassured the previous night.

‏- I heard the sound of bombing and the sound was abnormally loud. It did not occur to me that this day would be a turning point in my life, the life of my family, and the life of every person present in this small spot.

‏On the morning of the same day, my family and my brothers who lived at the top of our modest house gathered, thinking that something strange and incomprehensible was happening.

‏Based on the appearance of the news and friends’ tweets, part of me was clinging to hope and optimism for what would happen later and that it would be a passing and continuing adversity in a very natural way.

‏As a result, they read and listen to tweets and people saying that what happened in 2021, 2014, 2008, and 2012 will happen again. My heart began to beat very painfully, and I began to lose the small part of hope, even if it was very simple.

‏I had questions all that day

‏- ?Will we leave our home again

‏- ?Will I lose a loved one again

‏- - Will everyone in my family be in the area?

‏And many, many, many questions. On the same day, the news began to circulate more and more, and our region was warned of evacuation. We did not know what we should do.

‏“Between the impossibility of staying and the danger of leaving,” I spoke to my mother at the time, as her eyes were full of tears, and she was content with asking: Are we going to leave the house? Will we lose any of us?

‏- I was reassuring her that everything will be fine, we just have to be patient

‏We decided that we would leave our house the next morning. Despite the difficulty of the decision and the situation, there was no other choice but death.

Our first exodus

The first time we were displaced, on October 8, we went to my uncle’s house, who lives in the north of Gaza City, thinking that we were on our way to a safer place. We took the most important things we owned. We left our home, our memories, our moments, and our dreams as well.

I could not control myself, so I broke down crying, feeling that this was the last time I would see my room, my office, our warm home.

I felt like I was running into the unknown, just living our day, not knowing what would happen tomorrow or whether we would survive?

We arrived at my uncle's house, and we stayed there for about 6 days. I felt like I was still in a nightmare and I would wake up from it very soon.

‏Displacement for the second time

‏There was a threat of immediate evacuation of the area where my uncle lives, and it was necessary for us and my uncle’s house to leave their home and head to the south.

‏We took our simple things again and headed south to Wadi Gaza, us and my uncle’s house.

‏We sat at the house of a friend of my father’s for one night, because my family is large and the place where we sat was very small, so it was not enough for my family.

‏- But I will look at the positive part of this and say that we met a wonderful and kind family who provided us with good hospitality.

‏Displacement for the third time

‏We were forced to flee to the city of Khan Yunis, specifically “Hamad Town,” on October 14, so we took a place there to contain me and my family, also thinking that we were going to a safer place.

‏We took our simple and humble things again and headed to the city of Khan Yunis. The weather was cloudy and partly rainy that day, which gave me a little optimism about my life

‏Let us not forget that I was inside a nightmare that I did not know when I would wake up from

‏Interruption of Internet, electricity, and transmission networks

‏Here we began to isolate ourselves from the outside world. It became very difficult to hear news about what is happening in different areas of our city.

‏It has also become impossible and very difficult to communicate with my brother . I used to feel and still miss him and his family very much, and I hope to meet them soon.

‏Gas outage.

‏ We do not have gas at all,

‏My mother also added her creative thinking by making what we call "Clay oven“ to help us with small tasks such as tea and coffee.

‏Evacuated for the fourth time

‏On December 2, we received news of the evacuation of our area, the Hamad Town

‏area in Khan Yunus

‏We also gathered our simple belongings again for displacement and evacuation

‏It was a very difficult day in my life. I began to feel helpless as I saw my family in this situation and this confusion and I could not do anything for them. I took a corner at the door of the building in which we lived and began to talk to myself that everything would be fine. It was only necessary to Be strong for myself and for my family

‏We have to move, but we honestly don't know where.

‏We walked in our cars that evening on a very dark road, not knowing where we were going, just walking towards the unknown

‏We just listen to the sound of tanks and shells as if we were approaching them, as if we were walking in a ghost city that has no beginning or end.

‏I sat on my mother's leg in the car because there was no seating space for me in the car because there were many, many bags

Therefore, my mother recites the evening remembrances, the Holy Qur’an, and many supplications, and I just pray to God to deliver us safely, neither lost nor missing.

‏Two of my brothers decided to flee to the city of Rafah, and I, my mother, my father , my brother , and his family decided to move to the displaced people’s camps in the middle of Gaza City because we did not know where we would go and we thought that there would not be a large place enough for me and my entire family. At that moment and at the moment of separation, before I cried and hugged my brothers heading towards the south, I became I just ask them to go with us to the middle area . I am sure at that moment that I lose a part of me and my soul, and I just start wishing to die from all of this.

Watching my mother cry and feel sad and just pray to God to protect them, it was one of the most touching moments of our lives. My big brother sat, greeting me on the sidewalk while I was crying bitterly. He started saying to me: I can’t bear it. I see your tears and my mother’s tears, so I decided to go with you to the center. This moment was a decisive moment. There are some things that make me reassured that we will all be together.

‏Displaced for the fifth time

‏We arrived in the center of Gaza City, specifically Nuseirat, my brothers and I, and we went to one of my mother’s families. We stayed with them for about two nights, and my father and my brothers slept in the car that night because the car was full of things on top of it and inside it, so they could not leave it in the street and enter the house.

‏After many attempts to find an apartment for me and my family, we found an apartment in the same camp and we went there on December 4.

‏After we went to this apartment, and we stayed there for about 22 days, they were full of hardship and fatigue. I was looking at my mother and my brothers, their eyes tired from the fire on which they were cooking.

‏Displaced for the sixth time

‏On December 26, we received an order to evacuate the area in which we were located in the downtown area of ​​Gaza City. We had to evacuate immediately. We did not know where to evacuate or where to go. We just decided to go to Rafah without a place, without shelter.

‏In the middle of frighteningly crowded roads, here I was filled with fear for our fate and that we were heading towards the unknown and did not really know where we were going.

‏The road took about 4 hours due to the crowding. I got a severe headache from the sun’s rays on the way. I actually felt very tired as well, but there was no choice but to endure the circumstances and be stronger.

‏A friend of my brother was there, so he found us a “store” space of no more than 5 square metres

‏We decided that 3 of my brothers would go to different places and that one of my brothers would stay with us due to the lack of space.

‏About 8 people, old and young, stayed in this warehouse. It was a place where there were no windows, so I was breathing with great difficulty. We sat in this warehouse until now

so please try to help me and my family to find a good safe place and to to compensate the lack of food so we can stay alive

i would like to share with you some pictures which i shot

regards ,